Wright Wants First Three Points

Defender Bailey Wright is confident PNE can get their first three points of the season against MK Dons on Saturday, but insists it will be a tough game nonetheless.

North End have made a solid start to the season with draws against both Wolves and Rotherham, while the Dons beat Crewe Alexandra last week for their first win of the new campaign.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s match, Bailey told PNE.Com: “It’s going to be a tough game, most games in this league are tough games to be honest.”

“MK Dons are quite a good passing team and we’ve drawn a few games with them so we will be setting out to win the game and getting the three points back at home and hopefully get another good crowd in.

“We’ll treat it like most games and prepare right this week and make sure we’re ready for Saturday.”

The average age of Karl Robinson’s side is just 24, though North End’s Aussie centre back is sure the Lilywhites’ opponent’s inexperience won’t play against them come Saturday afternoon.

“I suppose you could say that with a young team comes inexperience but you could say that with a younger team comes a bit more hunger and a bit fitter,” he said.

“They’ve got their strengths and they could have weaknesses here and there, obviously we’ve got experience in our team and we’ve got good young players as well but I think we’ll just prepare for it like a normal game.

“Our players have got a bit more experience than them and hopefully that’ll show on Saturday with three points.”

The first three fixtures of the 2013/14 season have seen Preston pick up three clean sheets in a row, however the 21-year-old Bailey believes the nought in the goals conceded column is down to a team effort, rather than solely the back four.

“As a defender, you base yourself on clean sheet, the back four and the ‘keeper, but it’s not just been us,” he said.

“The midfielders and wingers have done their bit tracking back and the strikers as well, helping defensively and getting back for set pieces.

“So it’s been a real team effort for the clean sheets.”

Since the arrival of manager Simon Grayson and assistant Glynn Snodin at the Club, PNE have conceded only six goals in 17 games and Wright has credited both coaches for their impact on the defensive attitude of the squad.

“I think they have their own system of how their 11 plays and how they want the back four to perform.”

“They’ve done sessions with defenders and midfielders on how they want us to shape defensively and I think we’ve taken it on board pretty quickly, learnt it pretty well and understand what’s expected of us.”

“The clean sheets we’ve had have come down to working on it and the system we’ve had to defend from but I would say, if you look at the back four, it’s been similar in most games we’ve played and you get an understanding of what you expect from eachother.”

While North End have been solid in defence, the Lilywhites have managed to poach just one goal so far – something Wright isn’t worried about whatsoever, thanks to the diversity and quality of the forwards at the Club’s disposal.

“The goals will come, obviously we’ve had Clarkey chipping in on the goals with the great win against Blackpool,” he added.

“But we’ve got some great players in this squad, some creative players who can score goals and I’m sure that will come.”